Highrise: The Towers in the World & the World in the Towers

Highrise: The Towers in the World & the World in the Towers is an adaptation of three documentary projects that Cizek created for the National Film Board of Canada, yet it stands alone as a very fine introduction to the history of highrise living around the globe. With one notable exception, the focus is upon highrise dwellings rather than non-residential towers.

The first half of the book, “A Short History of the Highrise”, draws upon the interactive documentary Highrise: A Short History of the Highrise. It briefly describes highrise construction, and the people who lived in these structures, by focusing upon three eras when different construction materials predominated. Mud [and Brick] – 236 BCE to Early 1900s begins with early Roman insulae, followed by Montezuma Castle, a five-storey cliff dwelling built by the Sinagua people in the 1100s in what is now northern Arizona, the round fortress toulou of China’s southeastern Fujian province, Shibam in Yemen, and finally, brick tenements and a luxury highrise in New York City at the end of the 1890s and early 1900s.

Concrete was king from the early 1900s to the 1980s. Urbanization created great demand for affordable housing, and governments looked for economical ways to provide public housing. Famous architects, including Le Corbusier and Minoru Yamasaki, designed massive complexes of residential towers. Le Corbusier’s concept of “towers in the park” was copied in cities around the world. In hindsight, the ideas were flawed.

Glass construction predominated from the 1990s to today as manifested in the condo boom. Construction of affordable rentals and social housing all but stopped in many urban areas. In recent years, aging public housing complexes and rental stock is undergoing “tower renewal” that makes the buildings attractive and safe for people to live again.

The second half of the book features stories from the two NFB documentaries, Out My Window and Universe Within. It explores highrise living around the world. One or two municipal case studies are drawn from every continent except for Australia that is not represented. Illustrative is the study of Prague in the Czech Republic. It begins with a double-page spread featuring three full-colour photographs showcasing the city at large, one massive housing project today, and a historical scene of protesters filling the street during the Velvet Revolution at the end of 1989 when the public demonstrated in favour of an end to one-party (Communist) rule in the land. “Fast facts” state the city’s population, area in sq. mi. and language. The text describes some of the recent history of the city emphasizing the post-World War II concrete-block highrises called panelák apartments that continue to house some forty percent of the population. In recent years, these often run down complexes were drab, undesirable places to live, but a shortage of funds to replace them meant that other ways to rehabilitate them had to be employed. In this instance, buildings were sold to tenants or other buyers who often painted facades in bright colours. Many were retrofitted with energy efficient windows by the new owners.

The city overview is followed by a double-page spread featuring the story and living conditions of one resident of a highrise in Prague. Sylva’s story includes historic and contemporary photographs, descriptions of her neighborhood, a quotation, and a hopeful ending as she notes how retrofitting the buildings in her area has been accompanied by new shops and bakeries opening up. Photos show her interacting with her children inside her apartment.

Many of the personal stories are not as happy. In Nandini’s story from Mumbai, she and her neighbors are living in one of 56,000 buildings that were partially or totally built illegally and are facing one of 45,000 court orders for demolition. Corruption is a problem that is not unique to their municipal government.

Challenges to providing safe, affordable homes for people vary tremendously despite some common themes. The book illustrates the resilience of people who envision better lives today and better futures for their children. This may mean occupying an abandoned 22-story textile factory in São Paulo as low-income people create a “Movement” for social justice. Even in the first world country, the Netherlands, that has had a robust Housing Act since 1901, new social housing construction has been greatly curtailed in recent years leaving long waiting lists for assisted housing.

The most unusual profile has to be the case of Tainan, Taiwan, where the focus is upon a highrise cemetery in which niches are sold to accommodate the cremains of the deceased. The case study includes examples of highrise cemeteries in Tel Aviv, Hong Kong and Santos, Brazil.

Highrise includes a thorough index, a glossary, and lists of resources including the Highrise home page and links to a tower renewal website and other interesting sites such as UN Habitat. Highrise is an outstanding example of a nonfiction work adapted from an innovative documentary films project. In an increasingly urban world, Highrise provides glimpses into social living conditions of residents of vertical housing complexes in diverse cities. The people profiled may be first generation immigrants or descended from families with long roots in the area. All share a desire for safe, affordable living that allows human dignity.